The products on store tire racks may look similar, but to say that tire makers employ varying degrees of automation and processes to get there is an understatement.
Tire manufacturing floors, and the warehousing and processes for material handling and storage, are wildly different by company and by geography.
VMI's all-encompassing approach—from tire manufacturing to shipping logistics—offers solutions for just about every point on the supply chain.
"VMI will, as far as technology allows, take a platform approach to equipment, and will upgrade and enhance to a cycle and timing that makes best sense to the customer," Norman said. "There are no artificial limits placed on when and how these improvements should be made.
"It is certainly true that strategic thinking on the level of an entire production facility can be very positive, leading to potential improvements in everything from logistics to materials handling to storage, quite apart from primary manufacturing. VMI has concepts and solutions in all these areas, but it is not necessary to start with a greenfield site in order to achieve major improvements."
Market acumen, demand and customer investment strategies play into the solutions a customer might require.
"VMI will add value at all times, to all customers, in every part of their development cycles," Norman said.
And AI is part and parcel to the machines and related software along the way.
"The technologies generally defined as AI are a major strategic focus for VMI," he said.
Advances have been made by VMI in pattern recognition, machine learning, computer vision systems and data analytics.
"One factor in the expansion into India is the need to tap into the Indian software development industry," Norman said. "Our Vadodara hub is now an integrated part of global R&D, and will become more important over time."
Other AI investments for VMI extend into remote monitoring, smart algorithms and exploration of "Edge" devices for management of fleets of machines.
In tire manufacturing itself, AI benefits are being realized in anomaly detection (an improvement on "foreign body" detection, now tuned to spot anything that is not process-optimal), and with dynamic optimization solutions (measuring everything from the position of materials to efficiency within production processes).
"The core idea is to establish best practices on day one and ensure that systems meet this level at all times, with intervention for upgrades as needed, but with most changes and updates taking place through software delivery rather than sending engineers on-site and stopping production," Norman said. "It follows that sustainability enhancements are significant, captured in every area, from reduced travel to much lower energy use, to cutting emissions in the plant, to higher quality products that emit lower levels of harmful particulates."
On the production side, Norman said lights-out tire manufacturing will be realized one day.
But not today.
"We have no doubt this will happen but, as with all real revolutions, it never happens quite to the timing and roadmap we expect," he said. "VMI showed the industry that automation to an unprecedented level is feasible, practical and natural.
"We have moved therefore from production plants that depended on vast numbers of individuals, carrying out a mass of specific tasks, to those same plants that are now largely automated, with supervisory roles for humans.
"When will we trust systems to do everything with no one present? The day will come quite soon when the issues will be more psychological than technology-based. We will get there in the end, in this industry as in most others."
Norman agrees that tires and automotive are going through major transitions, with macro-trends like EVs, sustainability initiatives and geopolitical crises shaping the changes.
There have been reductions in price premiums, leading traditional Tier 1 players to rethink their strategies, and for strong challengers (including some from South Korea, China and India) to focus on Tier 1 status themselves.
"There are growing environmental concerns about a move to EVs, which is uneven and may have downs as well as ups, in the years ahead," Norman said. "The need to improve environmental performance in tires, however, is a non-negotiable priority. This has big implications for all aspects of production."
New designs, like the non-pneumatic tire, and new materials, like natural rubber from guayule and dandelions or silica from rice husk, are seen today by VMI as facts of life.
"The industry requires lighter but stronger tires, so testing and new techniques for mixing, extrusion and direct application of materials will become essential," Norman said. "There are big political concerns across the world right now, ranging from geopolitical issues (that are) significantly more disruptive and dangerous than 10 years back, to the impact of new technology.
"If pressed, we would say that, like many others, we think the old model of massive, central factories, with long logistics chains, will be replaced by more automated, locally based, small production facilities that are very responsive to local demand," he continued.
"This has implications for every aspect of the industry—and VMI is well-prepared for such changes."